This article is based on the writings and research of Thorsten Pattberg and this comment should not be deleted by TE until the article makes duly reference to Pattberg.

Apart from the similar content, the first paragraph mentions a tweet which leads to a Daniel Altman who apparently posts on bigthink on the same page with Pattberg. Altman pitched Robert Lane Greene about Chinese words and global language, not revealing that he just read Pattberg, so Greene felt free to make this important topic his own, citing his friends tweet, instead of the academic and his work, as the source for this article.

Pattberg's research is well published in China Daily, Global Times, Asia Times, Japan Times, Korean Herald, Straits Times, South China Morning Post, Die Zeit (German Times), Shanghai Daily, Asia Pacific World. The list goes on. He is also a former fellow at Harvard University, Tokyo University, and Peking University. Please do not delete this comment until this issue is solved.

People have the right to report copyright violations. If coworkers of Johnson continue to delete my comments, this will rightly look as if they tried to cover up a case of plagiarism.

I am the editor-in-chief of Economist.com. I have reviewed your correspondence with R.L.G. and the articles you have written on the Chinese language, and I have concluded that your allegations of "plagiarism" and "copyright violation" have no merit. Although the articles you wrote appeared before this post did, R.L.G. was completely unaware of them when he wrote it, and I can find no example in this post of a unique thought or expression of yours as evidence to the contrary. Accordingly, I am unwilling to amend the post to refer to your work, and I politely request, once again, that you retract the accusations you have made, both on this website and elsewhere, on the basis that they are baseless and defamatory. If you leave any further comment repeating these accusations on Economist.com, it will be removed in accordance with our terms of use. I would also remind you that disguising the origin of a comment using a "sockpuppet" account is also a violation of our terms of use, and will not be tolerated either. You are of course within your rights to disagree with this post and refer to your own work when commenting on it, but I must insist that your unwarranted accusations of intellectual theft stop forthwith.

The ancient Chinese astronomers , on seeing a comet in the night sky--- must have imagined it as looking -----like a lively, vigorous, powerful dragon-like creature streaking across the Universe at great speed

That's why drawings of Chinese dragons show them always as chasing after balls of fires --- like comets

Kipling himself influenced language, and helped develop [positive] prejudices and stereotypes, specifically about India. Even so, the notion that an entire language speaking culture is going to be less than "enthusiastic about incorporating Chinese words into the language" is, I believe, a non sequitur, and a point that is falsified by the word Kamikaze. The adoption of that word by the English speaking world had ZERO to do with enthusiasm toward the culture that produced both them and the term used to describe them. Emotions and prejudices had nothing to do with that. It was nothing more than a phenomenon not seen before, and for which there was not already a word in place.

While racism was certainly rampant a hundred years ago -- and still is today, albeit in different ways -- I do not think that racism could be put forth as the explanation for the lack of cross-pollination between these two languages. The British in India had no problem borrowing a great many words from their colonial subjects, for instance. My opinion on this is that it all comes down to how easy it is to share words among related languages; they're not called "Indo-European" for nothing!

Linguistic influence obviously comes from cultural influence. And, China actually has tremendous potential for international cultural influence. However, there are internal barriers that are currently preventing it. Chinese things that foreigners find interesting are typically actually not allowed in the Mainland. For example:
1. One of the most highly acclaimed movies ever made is Chinese: "To Live." It's an amazing achievement that won multiple awards all over the world. But... it's banned in its own country. It seems filmmakers are now afraid of trying to make another great film.
2. Christians everywhere are inspired by the house church movement in China. I know of many people who would feel honored and privileged to be under the teaching of these pioneering Chinese Christian leaders. However, they have to lie low for their own safety, especially when non-Chinese are in the picture, thereby limiting the possibility of them having much international influence.
3. When Elton John visited China, he was in absolute awe of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. When he then dedicated his concert to this man who is out of favor with the Party, there was serious political backlash, scaring foreigners away from admiring the Chinese individuals they like. Photographer Matthew Niederhauser was with Elton John for those events, and said he seemed pretty clueless about the political implications of expressing delight in someone unapproved by the establishment.
In short, enjoying modern Chinese people and their contributions requires a constant walking on political egg shells, which most non-Chinese are simply not equipped to do.

I agree that China has tremendous potential for international cultural influence but I do wonder about the points you make...
Ad 1)
I bought "To Live" at my local DVD shop here in China just a week ago. It may have been banned some time ago but it's definitely available now.
What is more regrettable is perhaps that the movie's director has seemingly lost most of his original creativity. But then there have been others following in his footsteps like Chuan Lu and Zhangke Jia.
The best of Chinese film making is most likely still to come while Hollywood keeps indulging in comic adaptations and sequels...
Ad 2)
Christianity, even when it's practised by Chinese followers, isn't exactly Chinese culture. I don't know why one would raise that point at all.
Ad 3)
Ai Weiwei's work is modern and political. Which is fair. But again it's not necessarily an expression of mainstream Chinese culture.
It should rather be interesting to watch what can arise out of the core of Chinese identity in the medium and longer term.
True, navigating the edges of modern Chinese society is a bit like walking on egg shells which in turn is actually a highly creative environment...

Anecdotal references (of insubstantial influence) notwithstanding, the reality for the Chinese (people and government) is that their culture and system of government are geared for unilateral ABSORPTION of cultural and language influences -- not the other way around.

Since the article talks about why so few Chinese words make it into English, shouldn't the focus be on those mechanisms and barriers? Not of cultural influences IMPORTED to China, but EXPORTED therefrom. In that context, the Chinese government has tremendous proven word-blocking ability -- starting with its firewall blocking of Facebook.

I lived in China for five years, where KFC is twice and big there than in the US, and where McDonalds can be found everywhere as well. Chinglish (English words and phrases, often nonsensical) are UBIQUITOUS in the fashion industry. Put any old English-ish sounding phrase on a T-shirt and it will sell. In ALL stores.

Furthermore, and much to the chagrin of many US-hating Euro-expats, the Chinese people by and large LOVE ALL THINGS AMERICAN. If I'm with a group of expats, and the Chinese are asking each of us where we are all from, they're really asking who the Americans are, because they light up immediately when you say "Mei-guo" (America), and will immediately want to connect by saying something about the culture (Like "Ā nuò shǐ wǎ xīn gé!!" - the transliterated pinyin name for Arnold Schwarzenegger).

American/western influences are being absorbed by the Chinese like a sponge, and yet there is only one English speaking television station in China - CCTV 9 - and it's nothing but highly controlled repetitive fluff. And anything that attempts to make too much of a statement that can be taken as a political influence (even morality that is politically controlled), or which the government believes will cause China to "lose face" isn't going to make it very far.

The featured comment in my view addresses the "technical" issues comprehensively. Beyond that the question is about potential "contents".
If you have lived in China you should have ideally appreciated some of its distinct culture. China is absorbing at breathtaking speed, the counter question is whether the same can be said about "the West" when it comes to everything Chinese...
Obviously the more inclusive culture wiil ultimately be the more successful and abundant one.

Yes, Chinese look up to the US. It's the classic love-hate relationship.
I assume one's experience of China living in an expat community in a large city is also vastly different from being incorporated in a Chinese family and joining the local folk in the early mornings for an hour or two of tai ji...
I love the Chinese countryside more than her congested and polluted cities. They are only one side of China. And not necessarily her best...

As for TV, how about CCTV News broadcast around the clock in English. It's not too bad at all, and quite openly critical of most things which are wrong in China.
It's broadcast where I live and I watch it most evenings...

Shanghai and Beijing are to China as Paris is to France. They're just major metropolitan cities that bear very little relation to the actual culture of the country. I avoid all major metropolitan areas, seeing them as festering hives with populations that are completely disconnected from reality.

I lived on the rural outskirts of Wuxi (Jiangsu Province), not as part of an expat community, but as a lone expat in a sleepy Chinese family neighborhood. I spent most of my time, and not just an hour or two in the mornings, immersed daily in with middle class and poorer Chinese families. And you're right, there is a major difference. But even then, it's not "China", because in truth China, like the United States, is many countries ("states") with thousands of variations on the main cultures, with Mandarin loosely tying them all together.

Agree fully. Guess it also depends whether you associate more with young folks or the older generation (like I do).
The kids are more than eager to become part of the global mainstream while their parents are not...

"China is absorbing at breathtaking speed, the counter question is whether the same can be said about "the West" when it comes to everything Chinese..."
I firmly believe that "the West" would absorb a great deal more of other cultures were it not for the artificial fiat petro-dollar (et al) economy, which is so heavily distorted as to serve as a significant barrier for what "the West" is even presented with to absorb.
We in the West are telling China what we want from them (our own stuff regurgitated back). And by "we", I do NOT mean me, or consumers, which in reality are presented with limitless false choices and dictate very little, but rather corporate, banking and trading interests that operate on their own proven formulae.
Our fiat monetary and financial systems are so perpetually debased, polluted and corrupt that they unilaterally dictate the flow of commerce (and therefore culture and language by extension). The adage "Follow the money" applies well here. Our global system of wholly artificial market distortions are the number one barrier to language and cultural absorption, causing them to be anything but mutual or multilateral. That's the elephant in the room that is never considered by blind linguists who don't share a common language with any of the deaf and quite insane economists (who are also part of the "money for nothing and chicks for free" distortion). But that's life in the Madness Hive.

Well, your lamentation about the ways of the money-driven world, while justified, reminds me of the glass being called half-empty when it's also half-full...
"The West" as well as China live in one of the most prosperous and peaceful periods in history. Have you watched the recent Chinese movie "1942"? Famine, war, utter desolation. Hardly 70 years ago...

I saw that movie, and you bring up a good point, because famine, war and utter desolation has been the rule for humankind, not the exception. And conventional wisdom notwithstanding, there is no evidence to suggest that we've somehow found a magic cure (in the same mistakes made by all failed civilizations), or have finally created a ship that is unsinkable.

So no, I'm much worse than that a glass is half full kind of guy, actually. Economically speaking, I'm a "this glass is just about completely dry" kind of guy. For me, and I sincerely hope that I am wrong, it is not a question of whether that will all come to a catastrophic end in a massive implosion, but rather when and how it will be triggered.

I don't believe in perpetual motion machines or infinite expansion. Sudden massive implosions of entire civilizations (in their totality) is nothing new. The only thing that will be truly unprecedented the next time around will be the speed and scale of the next implosion, for which 2008 was only a minor pre-shock. Talk about language changing then!

Well, for all their downsides I believe that a (social) market based economy in conjunction with globalisation can do quite some magic. Which will be required, too, because new challenges like climate change will require a whole new mindset transcending nationalism and short-term thinking.
Btw, news today is that China's banking sector is being shaken up, and the housing bubble will be next IMO...
The art is not to let it get to the same stage in China as it did in the US in 2008 but deflate it in time...
China's new leaders seem to have learned a thing or two here as well. $)

Chinese house Christians are commonly known for being very dangerous and feverent, as only these types of people would risk so much in their lives to be in their underground religious groups. Their behaviour is very cultish and certainly nothing to be admired; it may be necessary for survival in China, but when transferred to the freer western world their behaviour is unnecessary and even extremist.

Tycoon is not Japanese...it's derived from Cantonese.
Cantonese is a Chinese dialect. No surprise that the British adapted words from the coastal cities where they were based. Why not ask why there's no Uighur or Tibetian word in English?

The earliest English uses of "tycoon" appeared shortly after Perry "opened" Japan to the West and occur in a specifically Japanese context, whether American or British. The earliest citation in the OED is the diary of Townsend Harris, the first American consul to Japan—"I am told 'Ziogoon' is not the proper appellation of their ruler, but that it is 'Tykoon'"—and by the next year (1858) the London Times was using it to refer to the Japanese Emperor, with the familiar "tycoon" spelling. By the 1860s it was already being used figuratively to refer to a powerful person. The Japanese word 大君 (like so much Japanese vocabulary) is a Sinitic loan, and there is a Chinese word 大官 "high official" that was historically romanized as "taikun" in Cantonese, but there are no indications this was the source of the English "tycoon."

While the term 大君 is used to refer to Japanese Emperor, the pronouciation for the word is "Ookimi" (Japanese pronunciation), not "Tai-Kun" (Chinese pronunciation). There must have been some severe translation error creeping in somewhere along the chain of communication between the Shogun's foreign secretary and Townsend Harris back in 1850s...

"Taikun" (with the on reading) was used in external diplomacy to refer to the Shogun; there's an article on the subject at the Japanese Wikipedia (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%9B%BD%E5%A4%A7%E5%90%9B ). But the western general public tended to assume the Emperor ran the country and had little knowledge of the Shogun's role, so it appears some (like the Times) got confused and used "taikun" to refer to the Emperor. Townsend Harris wasn't among them--the "Ziogoon" to which he refers is a mangling/variant of "Shogun," so it's clear he understood the Shogunate was the real power at the time and that "taikun" referred to the Shogun. Harris' full diary can be read on archive.org if anyone's interested: http://archive.org/details/completejournalo00harr

Having read a bit more of Harris' diary, I have to somewhat walk back on my claims for Harris' understanding of Japanese politics. It seems he knew "taikun" meant the Shogun, but he doesn't appear to have even realized the Shogun and the Emperor were different people, at least not as of November 1856: "We had much conversation about Japanese affairs, but nothing worthy of particular note except that the ratification of the American Treaty was not signed by the Ziogoon, or, as we [call] him, the Emperor, but by the Chief of the Government. The ratification stated, in terms, that it was signed by the Chief by the express order of the Ziogoon." I find nothing in the diary to explain who this "Chief" character is supposed to be--perhaps he's using "Ziogoon" for the Emperor and "Chief" for the Shogun. I don't envy the diplomats (on either side) who actually had to work amidst such confusion.

I find it interesting that the entire focus is on Chinese words found in English, but not the other way around. Foreign words are usually adopted into a native language out of popularity (popular usage) or outright necessity (no other word for it). Or, the new word is more efficient. There is no ego to it, and no mystery when you think deeply enough about it. The Vietnamese word for beer is "bia"; Japanese: Beeru. The English language is SUCH a hodge-podge of borrowed words that it only admits new words AS NEEDED. English got the French fuselage, aileron, and empennage, etc., because the French were the first to coin them as aeronautical terms. VOID FILLED. NO OTHER APPLICANTS NEED APPLY. Likewise, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc., are all languages that are REPLETE with English words -- especially in high technology. It's not a mystery. Intel, Microsoft, Apple, et al beat the world to most of it.

The intensity of the contact between the two languages, as well as their relative prestige levels, influence the degree to which a language experiences lexical borrowing, ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestige_(sociolinguistics)#In_language_contact_situations

Donor language terms generally enter a recipient language as a technical term (terminus technicus) in connection with exposure to foreign culture. The specific reference point may be to the foreign culture itself or to a field of activity where the foreign culture has a dominant role.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loanword#Loanwords_entering_a_language

Excellent, and one very important factor that isn't mentioned at all is that the most important influence exposures are largely unilateral in nature, with unilateral dictation.

Movies, music and other media which dominate as cultural influences are, by nature, largely unilateral. (i.e., you don't talk back to, interact with, or influence movies that are already in the can). Likewise with technical terms, which are nothing more than standardized universal references (e.g., USB, megabytes, megapixels). These aren't "donated" or "loaned". Rather they are unilaterally dictated by the coiners of the terms, and then later adopted and adapted to other languages as needed. Other terms can be created, but only at the risk of inefficiency and confusion.

After decades of self-isolation the Chinese people are playing catch-up, busily absorbing as much western culture as they can, and in many cases finding themselves without terms to describe what they are seeing. Hip hop is hip hop, techno is techno, so that's what they call them. If they come up with something we've never seen before, and it becomes popular (e.g., Japanese "Anime", or Godzilla/Gojira), then the English speaking world is going to refer to it by whatever name they give it.

It seems not to have stayed on topic here to brag on Chinese culture but

1. Chinese culture or ancient Chinese culture is one of a few cultures that have existed for thousands of years, and its very existence reveals its inclusiveness and vitality;
2. Chinese culture is not flawless, and some elements of it should have been cast off;
3. many Chinese traditions have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution though some of them should have been kept till today;
4. Interpretation of culture differs a lot from east to west. Culture doesn’t necessarily mean civilization;
5. Words in any language are just carriers of its culture, and it is ridiculous to spot as many alien words in one’s mother tongue as the words he speaks everyday;
6. each and every culture should be respected no matter whether it is prevailing today or has withered away already;

Another important fact about Chinese culture:
7. Change of dynasty usually brought about massive discontinuity of culture, so very few rituals and traditions from Tang Dynasty (for instance) survives in modern-day China. In fact, some Tang Dynasty rituals were found to be still preserved in Nara and Kyoto today, almost unaltered.

"Chinese culture has a number of aspects that haven't been quite appreciated, let alone absorbed, by Western civilisation."

if you think this jaiha guy is praising Chinese culture then you are wrong, his main point is in his last sentence: "haven't been quite appreciated, let alone absorbed", this is his usual passive aggressive tactic, you just can't expect good stuff from the mouth of agent lama's secreatary, lol.

I wasn't passive aggressive. Did you read the links?
Look, some aspects of Chinese culture - and I don't mean Communism ;) - are quite distinct. Otherwise we wouldn't have you guys jumping up and down madly in response to every article on China. You simply don't see that with any other country.
.
How about the concepts/words that Pattberg has suggested? Sure, you have to be sinophile to know about them but they might get a larger audience in a few decades.
Or how to translate qi gong into English? Or yangsheng?
These are concepts not just mere words. They don't have an equivalent in other languages.
The more aspects of Chinese culture like the above where China has an actual edge over other cultures are being appreciated, or absorbed, by the wider world the more Chinese words will become part of the global language.

Our young Chinese friend has learned much from my constant teasing at your expense. But he still has a long way to go, my Crocodile Hippie !! Do you take a big jar of Vegemite on your travels in India? Vegemite is very versatile, as well as being a vegetarian food source, it acts as 1) Motor Grease 2) Bug Repellant 3) Rape Repellant (or the reverse if you know what I mean). I am sure you impress the wee ones in India, with your magical ability to eat a fistful of Vegemite without dying.

It is natural for English language to have lots of European languages words, incorporated into it

(1) European share many similarities in culture, music, arts

(2) ALSO -- very importantly Europeans are traditionally 90% Christians, thus even sharing a common religion

WHEREAS China had been cut off from England until 1820 when the British came to sell opium --- they started to come in bigger numbers

BESIDES the Chinese language being having very few words incorporated into the English languages -- we can also note that there are also very few
Islamic ,
Hinduism,
Buddhism,
Shintoism words incorporated into the English languages

In other words, languages of non-Christians Civilizations are not being commonly incorporated by the English

It is only natural that there is a kind of "BARRIER"

From the days of the Crusades onwards --- Christians regard non-Christians as a sort of "rivals/enemies"

AND INDEED --- why should the English ever wish to incorporate a lot of Chinese words into their language in the first place ??

Call this phenomenon the Law of Nature --- eg tigers have their own unique growls, as the lions, leopards and cheetahs all have each distinctive growls

When Latin was first commonly used, most people in Europe weren't Christians. Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism are religions not language, silly one. I don't want to burst your silly little bubble of yours, but Sanskrit as well as Hindi are Indo-Aryan languages, and share the same roots as English.

Those words are not "Islamic", my ignorant one. Those are Arabic words. Allah, haram and halal predate Islam. I don't want to make your high IQ head of yours will explode, but Arabs were not always Muslims you know.

I think the many comments about tonal changes are irrelevant to the topic , because any word taken into the English language would be "anglicized," pronounced according to English usage, as are most of the words we adopted from the French.

Chinese culture differs from the western's a lot. Many concepts which are appreciated by Chinese don't make sense for westerners. For example, 孝悌忠信礼义廉耻(xiao, ti, zhong, xin, li, yi, lian, chi) - 8 most important qualities in confucianism. 君君臣臣，父父子子(jun jun, chen chen, fu fu, zi zi) - the king, the servant, the father and the son, each should play their own role. 人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然 - a statement of Taoism, stemming from the Chinese view of nature worship, which most people believe in monotheism won't agree.

I think the commentators who turn this issue into general quality of Chinese words misses an important point:
There are THOUSANDS of Chinese words that have made it to Japanese vocabulary, and even more into Korean vocabulary. So, the matter is more the issue of distance, both cultural and phonetic, between Chinese and English, rather than anything to do with Chinese itself.
Also, I am surprised that the most obvious English word of Chinese origin seems to have been overlooked: Typhoon.
It is a great pity that the Chinese word for paper, 紙, never made it to European vocabulary, instead being substituted by the local word for Papyrus.

What you say is only the explain of the origin of the word for paper.Properly speaking,Papyrus can not be difined as a kind of paper from technological perspertive.Chinese invents the real "paper" ,the principle of paper making today has no different with ancient China's.

Yes, but my point was that instead of recognizing Chinese paper as a new invention requiring new word, the Europeans wrongly mislabelled Chinese paper as no different to Egyptian papyrus. I would not have complained about this had there been no separate word for parchment, which is used for the same purpose but is given its distinct name nevertheless.

It is very difficult to learn the spoken Cantonese Language--- even Northern Chinesde who speak Mandarin or other dialects find it difficult to master spoken Cantonese because a slight tonal difference implies different meanings

And for 50 years from 1820--- English traders were only allowed to operate from Canton --- making it difficult to incorporate Chinese words into English -- they had to communicate with Cantonese speaking Natives

The tonal BS has nothing to do with it, my dear fruit cake. Japanese is not tonal and is multisyllable, and they have alot of Chinese words. Thai is tonal, and they don't have nearly as many Chinese words as Japanese. Chinese spoken during the Han Dynasty was most likely non-tonal.

The Japanese use one character to express polysyllable words. There are some Chinese words that use one character but are polysyllable. although not as common as in Japanese.

It is very difficult to learn the spoken Cantonese Language--- even Northern Chinesde who speak Mandarin or other dialects find it difficult to master spoken Cantonese because a slight tonal difference implies different meanings"

sometimes I wonder why some people are very good at speaking a foreign language but some are not, perhaps they are good because they can hear the slight sound difference, the Canton people are good at slight tonal difference so they should speak good Putonghua isn't it, but why some are not speaking Putonghua but in fact they are "murdering" it............

Listen, you make an argument that English is not like Chinese, because its multisyllable and not non-tonal. I said, Japan has those characteristics too. Then you make up another line of reasoning, saying it call comes down to distance. Which shows how incorrect your line of reasoning was originally.

You accuse me of defending the British, all I said it has nothing to do with being multisyllable or non-tonal. How is that defending the British, fruit cake? When a low IQ smelly Indian refutes your point you get upset.

But the borrowing of words or acronyms from English keeping the Roman letters as opposed to rendering them in characters (easier now in the typing age when many Chinese use the Roman alphabet to type characters) is pretty widespread in China - see here "PS" for Photoshop on a provincial authority billboard. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/world/asia/true-or-faked-dirt-on-chine...

... Major national and regional broadcasters in China have all reportedly received a directive from their regulator requiring them to avoid using certain English abbreviations in Chinese-language channels and programs.

If enacted, the regulation would mean the replacement of such common terms as NBA, WTO or GDP with their much less frequently used Chinese translations. ...

Given that language borrowings and coinages based on them are so often motivated by the need to name and discuss things and concepts that are new, useful, desirable, attractive, etc., the answer to your question seems to spring quite easily to mind.

Those who take up taijiquan etc also learn the Chinese names (translated into English) for different parts of the routine. If they come into contact with TCM, people learn about heating and cooling foods and acupuncture meridians.

People who read literature in translation may know about The Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Journey to the West and the names of some of the characters.

Are these language borrowings? Are we only talking about the mainstream language or the entire range?

For all its worth, I think Chinese words are not used in English because English has become the language of commerce and science and it is used world wide. China has become world power after English has taken over.